Maya Plisetskaya choreographed and stars in a gripping adaptation of the Tolstoy classic. This live 1980 performance by the Bolshoi Ballet features a first-rate supporting cast, including Mikhail Petukhov as Vronsky, Victor Barykin as Karenin, and Nina Sorokina as Kitty. The Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre is conducted by Yuri Simonov.

"Plisetskaya was already 47 when she danced Anna for the first time and was 55 when this performance was recorded…. There must be something in the Muscovite water as she looks as comparatively youthful… I was fortunate enough to see this production at the Bolshoi in the early 1980's when Plisetskaya was almost sixty and she was truly incredible. It seemed as if she were dancing in the palm of one's hand, giving a personal performance for each and every individual in the capacious Bolshoi house…. The choreography is spiky (the sensation of movement created at the races is particularly effective) and matched by [Rodion] Shchedrin's quite daring score…. He does attempt some wit during a ballroom scene where the score liberally quotes Tchaikovsky, but this is a dark, brooding work that propels us at the pace of the final, devastating train towards its inevitable ending."—Ballet Magazine